Stabbing at Tabaq Bistro Early Saturday Leads to Temporary Closure

From Cody Telep. Follow him on Twitter @codywt, email him at cody[AT]borderstan.com.

A woman was stabbed several times in the leg while inside Tabaq Bistro at 1336 U Street NW early Saturday morning, according to reports from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA).

The victim was conscious and breathing according to a tweetfrom MPD and was taken to Washington Hospital Center. Her current condition is unknown. MPD has not announced any arrests in the case.

According to an ABRA investigative report provided by Councilmember Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) on the U Street listserv, the stabbing occurred during a large fight inside Tabaq Bistro. It is not clear if the fight occurred during the “Love vs. Lust, Roses & Rozay” event that took place Friday night. MPD reported the stabbing at about 3 am Saturday. The ABRA investigation determined that staff at Tabaq failed to notify ABRA or MPD about the incident.

As a result, MPD Chief Cathy Lanier closed the establishment at 6 pm on Saturday. Chief Lanier has the authority to temporarily close establishments serving alcohol for up to 96 hours under the Emergency Suspension of Liquor Licenses Act of 2005.

Such closures can occur when “The Chief of Police finds that continued operation of this establishment would present an imminent danger to the health, safety, and welfare of the public; that there is an additional imminent danger to the health and welfare of the public by not closing this establishment; and that there is no immediately available measure to ameliorate these findings.”

The ABRA investigation continues and the date of Tabaq Bistro’s hearing before the Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board has not been announced. The Board does have a regularly scheduled meeting set for Wednesday, February 29, at 9:30 am. Tabaq Bistro previously faced a fact finding hearing before the Board on October 19, 2011, for an assault inside the establishment. The Board voted unanimously to take no further action after the hearing.

Lanier has previously used her authority under the Emergency Suspension of Liquor Licenses Act of 2005 to close Heritage India and Mood Lounge after violent incidents. Both establishments later reopened after hearings before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

Comments (6)

I don’t know why Cathy Lanier bothers closing down these places after incidents of violence. Only result will be a lot of angry people who had their Sunday brunch plan to spend $15.95 on some microwaved french toast and a cup of maxwell house coffee ruined.

The ABC Board hearing will be a worthless exercise. It will be eight hours of talking about non-existent security plans and a parade of newly-hired security experts with three-ring binders promising changes. They will pay a small fine and be reopened in no time.

Sad that a person can’t go out for an evening without fear of violence inside a bar or out on the street afterwards. Hopefully the victim will make a full recovery and hire some good lawyers so we can see some real action.

Doesn’t look like anything major. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approved their request to add dancing on April 27 and at the time they had no incidents/citations. Tabaq had a hearing on October 19 for an assault inside the establishment but no further action was taken by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board after the hearing. Tabaq had another hearing last month (January 11) for an undisclosed issue, but the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board again voted unanimously to take no further action.

the security tells me that no female ever appeared hurt on tabaq property and that they are the ones who called police when a fight between multiple males broke out in a private party. they say they were taking care of remaining customers etc and before they knew it the police were gone.